This fund has 2 share classes, total AUM per MFO is 278M. The high fee is no doubt a factor towards the small AUM. The inception to date stats for this fund are very good too
Inception: 200410
Life APR=7.2, SP500 APR=11
Max DD=16.9, SP500 Max DD=50.9
Recovery=21 mos, SP500 Recovery=53 mos
Sortino=2.08, SP500 Sortino=1.01

Yea transaction fees definitely a bummer but imo(this is strictly my $0.02, everyone needs to determine what works best for personal situation there isn't a one size fits all) not investing in a stronger fund due to transaction fees is a bit of tail wagging the dog.
To be clear, I strictly invested in NTF, no load funds for a long time and had strict criteria on max ER but my views on this have evolved. While I have never invested in a load fund, I would for the right one. Over say a 10 year period, transaction fees would be a rounding error between a VWINX and SFHYX(again may not be applicable to everybody).
Personally if the fee was a blocker for me I would look at purchasing at lower cadence. Say every 3,6,9,etc.. months.
For a great fund that I intend to hold long term I would also look into opening an account directly with the sponsor. I did this for a Grandeur Peak fund but right now that bet is not going too well for me. Getting hammered hard on my international funds.

SFHYX and SVARX are transaction fee funds, to the best of my knowledge. VWINX is ntf at Vanguard and E-Trade. If the transaction fees were $10, and I could schedule purchases at any time, I would gladly invest in these funds !

SFHYX has been referred to in other threads. Here is the website -- https://www.hundredfoldselect.com/ Below has been lifted from the site
----
Managing alternative strategies, seeking steady returns and controlling risk
The Hundredfold Select Alternative Fund is actively managed to anticipate and respond to trends in differing types of fixed income and equity securities. It seeks steady returns, principal protection and low correlation to the overall markets while providing daily liquidity.
Portfolio construction begins with a basket of high-yield fixed income securities managed for steady returns and limited volatility. These securities are complemented with alternative strategies including a variety of short-term equity trading strategies, investments in long/short, absolute, or merger strategies, and the ability to move into cash depending on market conditions.
Objective
The Hundredfold Select Alternative Fund is an alternative mutual fund investment that seeks a moderate total rate of return (income plus capital appreciation) annually.
----
Classified as a Long/Short fund by Lipper so same family as JHEQX. Very actively managed and positions can change quite dramatically MoM. ER is high but the risk adjusted returns have been great and the manager(Doudera) is a veteran(in the industry since 1973). Doudera also manages SVARX(income fund) which also has great metrics

I moved our TRP accounts to Fidelity last year due to declining customer service. We had invested with TRP for about 30 years. I would have moved sooner but was holding out on the chance that PRWCX would open to new investors again, but finally decided it was wasn’t worth it. We still have money invested in a number of TRP funds, but they are housed in my Fidelity account and I may switch some of the TRP funds to other options.

+1. I quite understand!

Respectfully I disagree. Hindsight is always 20:20 of course but here are some stats on VWINX and a few others over the last 3 year period. I have not looked at the 5 and 10Y stats but pretty sure that other funds have done better than VWINX in terms of higher APR, lower max DD and higher Sortino ratio
- VWINX: Max DD=8.6, APR=11, Sortino=2.33
- SFHYX: Max DD=3.1, APR=17.5, Sortino=6.29
- JHEQX: Max DD=5.1, APR=13.6, Sortino=3.37
- MAFIX: Max DD=7.5, APR=20.3, Sortino=3.38

See the thread that @Derf started in mid-November, https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/144545/#Comment_144545

+1

The US Government bought $1.3 billion worth of Covid home test kits for free distribution from the Chinese iHealth Labs/Andon Health. A new chapter in US-China relations?

By Jason Zweig, WSJ (Free Link)
A change that benefitted big clients left little ones holding the bag
Read Here

It is now 2-day settlement for stocks, ETFs, CEFs and only 1-day settlement for mutual funds. It is the same for taxable and tax-deferred/free (IRAs, 401k/403b) accounts. Days are business days.

New online brokers' rankings should be coming out in a few weeks. Here are those from last year, LINK.
There are also other rankings from Kiplinger, etc. LINK2

Crash, you've likely read here over the years the discussions about Fido, Schwab, TRP, Vanguard, etc.
I'm biased with Fido, as our investment accounts started with them in 1978. Fully our decision after investigation. We also have some experience with Schwab (now closed) that was offered via an employee plan.

Once the account is set-up online, I'd be free to get into and out of a bunch of mutual funds from a bunch of different Houses--- even in a T-IRA, yes?

YES !!!
--- How many funds does Fidelity offer?
Over 10,000 funds from Fidelity & other companies. Well, I suppose; if one includes all of the share classes offered. BUT, needless to say; you'll have an overwhelming choice of funds from different houses, as well as just about any individual stock or bond you'd like to purchase.

Is $200+K too small for them to worry about? Is that amount so small that it would restrict my options if I used a brokerage?

NO!!! I've helped several over the years set up Roth accts. for them and their kids. Start with $100...........cool, no problem.
--- A Fido account (IRA in your case) for buy/sell of funds, etf's, stocks, etc. has a cash account attached. The cash acct. Not knowing your circumstance for money going into a new acct.; the monies generally would "land" in the cash area of your IRA acct. From there you may buy whatever, with the transaction being inside of the IRA. This in itself is a form of "brokerage" within the IRA acct. Buys and sells move from/to the core cash acct. in the IRA........the core cash acct. EX: $10,000 setting in the core cash and you buy $5,000 of fund, etf, or stock of "X". You now have $5K remaining in core cash (for future buys) and $5K in whatever you purchased. The reverse would take place upon the sale of investment "X"........the proceeds of the sale would move back into the core cash area of your IRA.
NOTE: Fido funds have no minimum purchase...........so, $100 or whatever with get you into the door. This does not apply to other fund houses you may want to buy.
NOTE 2: We have a Fido brokerage acct. (taxable acct.), but it has little use over many years. This taxable brokerage acct. is what we will use when the big LOTTO win happens. :)
Small summary: A stand-alone brokerage is NOT mandatory to have a full functioning IRA account for all buy/sell with Fido; as noted in the example.
FIDO, HONO. I would expect a full knowledge team in place at this office. Make a list of questions and be patient, eh?
FIDO house overview This page has several "blue" tabs for selecting a Fido funds investment area....click a few for a view of offerings.
Lastly, over the many years here; you have seen many ticker symbols. With a few exceptions, you'd likely be able to buy any one of those via your IRA account.
MFO folks........please revise, as needed; any info I have provided here. TY.
Time to go exploring, eh?
Catch

I have a large(for me) position in JHQEX and am overall happy with it. Logan Kane in Seeking Alpha and https://www.optimizedportfolio.com/ have good write-ups on SPD. I did dabble in one of the buffered(15%) ETF's but sold out of it because I'm not really convinced that they work.

Down another 5.7% today to $71.52.

SPD is one of the new Simplify ETFs with complicated strategies. The web page has little information but the theory should work and is very quantitatively documented. I have not tried calling them to get a little better description of potential ups an downs (Barrons ( Sept 6 2021) said SPD's "protection would be minimal until there is a selloff of 30 to 40% " although the author had no data to back her up. It depends on the structure of the puts which also change as they get closer to exploration.
Unfortunately it is hard to find specific goals in any of the material from these funds. TAIL has been running for several years, but there is little description of what to expect
The "Buffered ETFs " seem to be more specific, as they have a specific month in their name and focus on the next 12 months.
IT taks a lot of work to sort these things out

Much more information on PFIX is available from it's creator, Harvery Bassman, whose commentaries and musings on interest rates, money creation and the economy are really worth reading in detail.
https://www.convexitymaven.com/
He has a very entertaining and very wise blog. While the math and options talk is heavy, I think he is brilliant and clearly knows what he is talking about.
He recently joined Simplify Asset Management to mange ETFs designed to do things for individual investors that are hard to do otherwise ( Puts, call, swaps, convexity strategies etc)
Unlike a lot of public bears I think Bassman knows what he is talking about and backs it up with math and data
He explains the rational for PFIX in his May 2021 commentary "Helicopter Defense"
https://www.convexitymaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Convexity_Maven_-_The_Helicopter_Defense.pdf
and likens it to fire insurance. It is basically a swap on interest rate futures that will soar ( will quadruple ) if rates hit 4% by 2024 or so. Backed by T bills as collateral, it can loose no more than 50%
He recommends using a chunk to prevent your bond funds from taking you to the cleaners, or to protect yourself against other disastrous outcome in store in if inflation takes off and you have an adjustable rate mortgage for example.
He has tables that provide examples of how much to invest etc.

Relative performance of FDIC cash looking good as well so far this year.
Astounds me in my humble, no nothing opinion what appears to be why so many are in a hurry to jump back in looking for a bargain....this might have a bigly ways to go on the downside.
Remember back in 87, Black Monday? Guys who were my age back then in the office saying there goes my retirment...remember March 20'....guys looking shell shocked...remember 01, the jig jag downwards, down several points, up a few, down several...
Don't we all really know this is an artificial, juiced, BS of a market I mean casino?
Let it flush, let it flush bigly. Hit the freaking reset button already. Make asset prices reflect reality and let the older folks gain a little interest over infaltion on their money market accounts.
Enough with this BS already.
Do what you want, be careful and good luck to ALL,
Baseball Fan

+1 @hank. The main reason I'd stay with TRP is my big chunk in PRWCX. I'd be unable to get back in, of course. Until it opens again to new investors. But I've certainly already "made my money" in that fund..... It's not a small decision, to fully exit a fund house. But of course, I don't want to let simple INERTIA stop me from doing what's best for ME. "Fidelity is a dream." I could go in person to talk to someone over there, here in town. I could ask my questions. Once the account is set-up online, I'd be free to get into and out of a bunch of mutual funds from a bunch of different Houses--- even in a T-IRA, yes? Thank you.
(*Added: ork! No Fidelity office here. I suppose I'll call them. )

+1